Payback, page 20
She laughs coldly. “You and Caleb really are perfect for each other, you know that? I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Brynn, from one hustler to another. When it comes down to it, people like us are better alone. We don’t get family. We don’t deserve it.”
Cold streaks through me.
“That’s not true—” Caleb’s interrupted by the flight attendant, standing expectantly beside him.
“Put your phone away, sir.” She’s done being polite.
He gives her a desperate smile. “I’m sorry. My parents mixed up their work schedules and now my sister’s home alone. I’m talking to a neighbor right now to see if they can check in on her.”
“I understand, sir, but the entire flight is waiting…”
Her words fade into the hum of the jet engine as Margot says goodbye.
“Margot?” I grab the phone from Caleb, holding it to my ear.
The line is dead. She’s gone.
“Give it to me,” Geri says, voice trembling. “I’ll call her back. She’s always listened to me.”
“You can make as many calls as you’d like from the terminal,” says the flight attendant, her brows arched in challenge. “Or you can continue talking, and the air marshal can escort you to security. Your choice.”
I lean forward in my seat, queasy.
“We’re fine,” Caleb says. “We need to get home.”
“That’s the spirit,” she says flatly.
As soon as she’s out of view, we call Margot back, but there’s no answer. We risk calling her from Geri’s school phone, but it goes straight to a generic voicemail. I try Henry next, but even he doesn’t answer.
Neither does Charlotte.
Neither does Sam.
I send my mom message after message, but there’s no response.
“Something’s wrong,” I say, as the plane takes off. My stomach churns as the bile climbs up my throat. I can’t close my eyes without seeing Raf, without seeing my mom and friends in his place. “Something’s happened.”
Caleb’s mouth is set in a grim line. He grabs my hand, his palm slick with cold sweat. Geri links her arm in mine.
The next two hours are the longest of my life.
CHAPTER 20
As soon as the flight attendant rings the button to stand, we bolt into the aisle, and despite her disapproving glare, we are the first off the plane. The terminal is crowded with people—some running to catch their planes, some searching the TV monitors for direction where to go. We shove through them without apology, racing for the nearest exit.
“I tried Margot again,” Geri shouts from the back of the line. “No answer!”
“Henry and Moore aren’t picking up either!” Paz, Bea, Joel. None of them are answering. I didn’t even get their voicemails—just a generic message that I’d been disconnected.
“The Jeep’s parked in lot four!” I shout to Caleb, and he veers left under a sign pointing to the garages. Breath searing my chest, I jump as my phone vibrates in my hand.
The screen lights up with a number I don’t recognize.
“Hello?” I answer between breaths.
Caleb glances back over his shoulder, brows furrowed.
“Where are you?” a male voice snaps.
“Grayson?” I ask, tension drawing my shoulder blades tighter. “I’m at the airport. Geri and I have been trying to get in touch with Vale Hall all morning. What’s going on?”
“Is Henry with you?”
Fear clenches my chest. “I don’t know where Henry is. His phone’s—”
“Ms. Maddox did some kind of security sweep. Everyone’s phones have been wiped clean. All unknown numbers are blocked,” Grayson interrupts. He’s in a car, I think. I can hear the blare of a horn as it whips past. “Belk said it was some new safety protocol before Dr. O’s swearing-in ceremony.”
I can tell by the sound of his voice he’s not buying this, but I don’t know if his disbelief is an act—if Dr. O has told him more than he’s letting on.
“Unknown numbers? Geri and I aren’t unknown.” I glance down at the screen. “Where are you calling from?”
“You think you’re the only one with a secret phone?”
My teeth press together. He knows I have a burner. Has he been in my room? Traced my calls to Caleb? Given that information to Dr. O?
This number could be his direct line to the director.
Dread cools my blood as I remember the last time our phones were wiped clean—when the two detectives came to Vale Hall, looking for Grayson. Moore keyed some kind of code into the front gate, and by the time we got back to the residence, Ms. Maddox had gotten rid of every shred of evidence that we weren’t a normal boarding school. Our phones were blank. Our online messages were deleted. Whatever incriminating evidence that had been on paper had magically disappeared.
Why is this happening again now?
My thoughts jolt to the other students—to all the things they don’t know about Dr. O, about what they’re truly doing all these assignments for, and my stomach sinks. “When did she clear the phones?”
“Last night.”
“When? Late?” After our visit to the Kings of Rochester set? Is it possible Damien called Dr. O after we’d been there and ratted us out?
Are we the security breach? If so, Charlotte’s in danger. Sam. Henry.
“I don’t know, sometime after dinner.”
Caleb holds open a swinging door and Geri and I burst through onto a cold, cement sky bridge. Lot four is only twenty feet away.
“Where’s Dr. O?” I ask. “Why did you ask about Henry?”
I dig the keys out of my pocket, tossing them to Caleb as the Jeep comes into view at the end of the lot. He snags them midair while I run to the passenger side. Geri’s right behind me, though her feet are silent thanks to the boots she’s now carrying in one hand.
“Because they’re both gone!” Grayson’s composure breaks, the sound of his strained voice driving a spear through my focus. “I found Henry earlier hiding in one of the classrooms talking on some old phone. He said something about this being too dangerous, and that he was going to some headquarters to talk. That was the last I saw him.”
Was Henry talking to Margot? Was he meeting her at the train yard to stop her from whatever she planned to do to Dr. O?
Doubt slides in over my panic. This could be a trap. Dr. O could have orchestrated this through Grayson, the way he has other games.
But if Henry’s in danger …
“Grayson, if you’re lying—”
“I’m not,” he says, his voice still strained. “And if I ever have to you, I swear it was for your own protection.”
His words trip the thundering roll of my heart, and slow my steps.
He’s telling the truth. I’m sure of it.
But I’ve been sure before.
“What happened after you found Henry on the phone?” I pull open the passenger side door.
“I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. Then he and Charlotte and Sam tore out of the garage like the house was on fire. Belk saw them.”
My heart pumps faster. I slide into the car, slapping my hand against the dash for Caleb to drive.
“I tried to distract him, but he jumped in the SUV and followed.”
A new dose of panic grips my throat as I imagine Belk hunting down my friends. I can’t even get in touch with them with my phone number blocked. “Grayson, I need you to call Charlotte or Sam. Tell them they all have to go somewhere public. Somewhere with a lot of people.” My voice is shaking. Caleb’s started the car now, and is waving a hand toward Geri, whose questions of what is going on keep getting higher in pitch.
“I can’t!” Grayson says, a squeal of tires cutting through his words. “I left my Vale Hall phone at school. This number will be blocked.”
Which means he can’t even call Moore for help.
“Where are you?”
“Right behind Belk. We’re in Sycamore somewhere. Thistle Street. What’s going on, Brynn?”
The road where the old library sits isn’t far from the train tracks.
“We’re coming to you. Hang on,” I say.
“Too late,” Grayson says. “Belk’s stopped at some train station. I’ve got to go.”
“Grayson, be careful,” I warn. “Belk is dangerous.”
“So am I,” he says, and hangs up.
“What was that?” Caleb stops the car and shoves the ticket into the automated teller so we can leave the garage.
“Forget Vale Hall,” I say. “We need to get to HQ. Now.”
* * *
CALEB PARKS ON the back side of the tracks, where he and the others once hid their cars to host the recruitment rally. No one else is parked here now, though, and that sends another bolt of worry through me. Did Charlotte, Belk, and Grayson all park at the street entrance? Anyone could have seen them.
“This is where you meet?” Geri asks. “You couldn’t go to a coffee shop?”
I ignore her, eyes narrowing through the tattered chain-link fence and down the tracks, to where a white billow of smoke rises in the air.
“Fire.” Caleb’s eyes are bright with fear as they glance my way.
Heart in my throat, I race to the twisted section of fence. Caleb scrambles over, and Geri and I aren’t far behind. Gravel sprays out from under our shoes as we follow the path between the tracks, now slick with patches of dirty snow and frozen puddles. Before us, the smoke has doubled in size, a white-gray cloud coughing into the overcast sky.
Henry. Charlotte. Sam.
What has Belk done to my friends?
Where is Grayson?
I glance over my shoulder, but Geri, wearing her high-heeled boots, has fallen behind. She’s keeping to high ground, jumping from one rail tie to the next on the track beside us.
From ahead comes an ear-splitting crack of wood, followed by a high-pitched scream. Charlotte. I race harder toward the collection of train cars, now only a hundred yards ahead. As we hurl over a steep incline, Caleb grabs the shoulder of my coat, forcing me down. I know he’s looking for Belk, but over the rise of gravel, I only see Charlotte and Sam, and someone kneeling on the ground between them. I squint, and register Grayson’s dark hair. He falls forward on his hands and knees, as if he’s not strong enough to stand.
A groan of old wood, and the flames appear. Whips of orange and red, striking through the darkening plume of smoke above. Gripping my heart like a scalding fist.
I don’t see Belk.
I don’t see Henry.
Caleb and I scramble over the embankment together, careening toward the others.
“Sam!” Caleb shouts. “Where’s Henry?”
Sam spins toward us, Charlotte gripping his arm. Tears streak down her face, now dirty with soot.
“He went in there!” Sam points toward the maze of train cars, now misty with smoke.
A tremor rakes through my bones, weakening my legs until I have to focus to keep standing. The sharp scent of burning wood fills my nostrils and coats my throat. I can feel the heat, even twenty feet away. It’s like standing beside an open oven.
“He was calling for someone.” Grayson gives a hacking cough, then forces himself up. Soot is smeared across his forehead and jaw, and sweat has soaked through his button-down shirt. “I could hear him when I went in.”
“Margot,” Charlotte says. “She called him at school. She—”
Charlotte stops as Caleb launches toward the inferno. I’ve snagged the back of his jacket, but he tears free. When he looks back, his jaw is set, his eyes clear.
He’s going in after Henry.
“I’m going with you,” I tell him.
He grasps my hand, pumping my fingers hard within his fist.
“Look for Belk,” he says.
Everything in me screams no. I can’t let him go in there alone. I can’t lose him or Henry. I don’t even want anything to happen to Margot.
But if Belk’s still here, the fire isn’t our only danger.
“I’ve already searched the train cars on the left,” Grayson says quickly, stepping beside him. He wouldn’t know where to find the car with the painted wolf.
Caleb’s hand rips out of mine.
I watch their backs as they disappear into the smoke between two cars, feeling as if my lungs have just been ripped from my chest.
When they’re gone, I lunge at Charlotte, whose wild, orange hair looks dull against the fire behind her.
“Where’s Belk?”
She shakes her head rapidly. “I don’t know.”
“We saw him running when we smelled the smoke,” Sam says, his face contorted. “He started the fire, I’m sure of it!”
The punch of fury is sharp and swift, but it’s overridden by a greater panic. I stare at the flames, now crackling and roaring like a monster that’s come to life.
Belk waited until four people were trapped in a maze of train cars, then lit it on fire.
“He followed you,” I say, shaking. I run up another embankment, climbing to the top of a track where I can see the cars parked against the road. Two small black sedans. No SUV.
He’s already gone.
Rage churns with the bile in my stomach. Where did he go? Is he telling Dr. O that Henry, Margot, Sam, and Charlotte are dead? Did Dr. O order it?
Over the roar of the flames comes a siren.
“The fire department’s coming,” Sam says, now beside me. “Maybe they can help.”
“They’ll think we started it!” Charlotte screeches.
I stare toward the flames, jumping when another resounding crack fills the air. Throwing reason aside, I slide back down the gravel slope, nearing the entrance where Caleb and Grayson disappeared.
“Come on,” I mutter, wiping the sweat from my brow as I edge closer to the wall of smoke. “Come on, come on.”
The sirens grow louder.
“Caleb!” I shout, then cough on the smoke. My bones are shuddering. I feel as if I might break apart. “Henry! Grayson!”
Sam’s hand grips my shoulder, pulling me back.
“You can’t go in there!” he yells.
But if they’re trapped …
If they need my help …
I’m just about to tell Sam and Charlotte to run when I hear a hacking cough ahead. I jerk out of Sam’s grasp and run into the smoke. A shadowed figure stumbles toward me, moving too slowly to escape the flames now catching on the cars on either side. I rush toward him, the air searing my throat as I pull my shirt collar up over my mouth and nose. Tears stream from the corners of my eyes as they lock on Caleb.
I charge toward him, stumbling when I see the small figure cradled in his arms.
“Margot?” I gasp.
She isn’t moving. Her head rests against his chest, her skin black with soot. Terror fills the gaps between my ribs as I help prop her between Caleb’s shoulder and mine.
She can’t be dead.
Not after Raf, and Jimmy, and all the rest.
Caleb blinks, dazed, as another coughing fit takes him.
“Move!” A voice behind Caleb cuts through the flames. Grayson, with Henry hoisted against his side. The five of us run toward the exit, tripping over each other, falling in a heap on the ground just outside the wall of smoke.
Caleb gags as I lean over Margot, feeling for a pulse on her flushed skin.
“Margot? Margot!” Geri’s beside me now, hands on Margot’s cheeks. “Is she breathing?”
I lean down, listening for breath, and hear a faint sip of air.
“I think so!”
Beside me, Grayson’s fallen onto his back. Henry’s on his knees beside him, coughing, his yellow hair stained black with soot.
“Next time…” Grayson heaves between breaths. “You want … to be dramatic … wear some eyeliner…”
Henry laughs. Chokes a little. Then leans down and kisses Grayson right on the mouth.
I gape at them, a sob building in my chest as Grayson’s hands reach around Henry’s jaw to pull him closer.
“You do have it bad for me,” Grayson mutters.
I sputter a laugh.
Then Charlotte’s tackled Henry, squeezing so hard it induces another coughing fit, and Sam’s hugging Caleb, and Caleb’s kissing me while Henry’s arms wrap around Grayson’s waist, and we’re all crying and coated with soot and dirty snow but alive.
“She needs help,” Geri says, snapping my focus back to Margot. Her eyes are still closed, and she’s not breathing any deeper. “I think maybe she took in too much smoke. I don’t know!”
Over the rush in my ears comes the sirens.
“We have to get out of here,” Sam says.
He picks up Margot, and I grab Caleb’s hand. Charlotte helps Henry and Grayson up, though as soon as she does, she draws back, as if remembering who Grayson is.
He’s going to explain what’s going on. But first, we need to move.
“Fire trucks have us blocked in,” Grayson mutters as he peers over the edge of the gravel embankment toward his car. “We have to go another way.”
“The Jeep.”
Caleb points ahead toward the edge of the property where we entered, and we run away from the burning cars, toward the Jeep. As soon as we’re all over the fence, Geri says, “Where will we go? We can’t take her to a hospital.”
We can’t go home.
It hits me then. Belk tried to kill us. All the things we were fighting for have been ripped away. I’m not even sure I have an identity still.
“My mom,” I realize. “She’ll be next. I need to—”
“Moore will take care of it,” Caleb says, but I can tell he’s worried too.
“Dr. O’s got eyes on Moore,” Charlotte responds.
My breath comes out in a huff. He can’t protect Mom or Caleb’s family if he’s with Dr. O, but maybe he’ll be better able to monitor what the director’s plans are.
It seems a weak thing to hope for, but if I go to her, someone may follow. Someone might be watching me right now.
